Top Stories Monday, Sep. 18: Single Bitcoin In 2021 Was Enough To Purchase A Tesla Model Y, Softbank Explores Investing In OpenAI, Ford Faces UAW Strike In US, Canada - Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Benzinga

In November 2021, when Bitcoin (BTC/USD) reached its all-time high of $67,617.02, the most valuable purchase that could have been made with a single BTC was the 2021 Tesla TSLA Model Y, priced at $62,190.00.
According to research from Coingecko, in 2014, when 1 BTC was worth $465.00, purchasing a car would have been out of reach.
2017 marked the year when 1 BTC was enough to purchase a new car, specifically the 2017 Honda HR-V, which won accolades in the subcompact SUV category. Fast forward to November 2021, and 1 BTC could have bought the 2021 Tesla Model Y.

Billy Markus, the co-creator of Dogecoin (DOGE/USD) and popularly referred to as Shibetoshi Nakamoto, took a jab at former President Donald Trump for his alleged impact on free speech.
The conversation started after tech mogul Elon Musk voiced his concerns about the transformation of legacy media into entities suppressing speech. "How did most of the legacy media go from superheroes of free speech to supervillains of speech suppression?"

Apple Inc AAPL launched the next iteration of its iPhones last week, and early reception to the device has been positive, according to Wedbush analyst Daniel Ives.
Ives has an Outperform rating for Apple shares and a $240 price target.
The iPhone 15 preorders, which began on Friday, were tracking much stronger than consensus estimates, Ives said in a note. Preorders were up roughly 10-12% from the preorders for the iPhone 14, he said, citing Wedbush's analysis.

'Apple GPT' To 10-year Special Apple Watch And Bigger iPhones, 2024 Could Be A Blockbuster Year For Apple

Apple Inc AAPL has a slew of major announcements lined up for 2024, including "Apple GPT," 10-year anniversary special Apple Watch Series X, and bigger iPhones.
While 2023 has been an average year for Apple when it comes to product launches, Bloomberg columnist Mark Gurman says that Apple has a slew of new product launches and it also plans to enter the generative AI race with "Apple GPT" along with a new large language model.

As Detroit-based automaker Ford Motor Co F continues to reel under the impact of the United Auto Workers (UAW) union's strike in the U.S., Canada's Unifor union is gearing up for a strike against it.
Unifor said on Sunday that despite negotiations, the union has not reached a tentative agreement with Ford. A strike would commence if the company fails to reach an agreement by Sept. 18, 11: 59 p.m.

Coffee giant Starbucks Corp SBUX has promoted Molly Liu to executive vice president and co-chief executive officer of Starbucks China, effective October 2, 2023.
Liu has served as Starbucks China's chief operating officer since 2021 and had previously served as the company's vice president of Digital Ventures.
As head of the Digital Ventures organization, she set the foundation for the company's digital flywheel in the market with the launch of 'Starbucks Delivers' and 'Starbucks Now' digital ordering services, which constituted 48% of total China sales in Q3 FY23.

Investment firm KKR & Co Inc KKR has signed a definitive agreement under which a fund managed by KKR will commit up to S$1.1 billion ($800 million) for a 20% stake in Singtel's regional data center business.
The investment is a part of KKR's Asia infrastructure strategy. It puts the enterprise value of Singtel's overall regional data center business at S$5.5 billion.
KKR will have the option to increase its stake to 25% by 2027 at the pre-agreed valuation.

Reuters

Chevron Corp's CVX Wheatstone liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility in Western Australia has resumed full production, which was previously affected by a fault last week, resulting in a roughly 20% reduction in production.
Wheatstone, in conjunction with the nearby Gorgon facility, collectively contributes to around 7% of the global LNG supply.
Chevron emphasized that the fault and the ongoing strikes did not impact the scheduled deliveries, a fact supported by shipping data on LSEG Eikon, which showed no disruptions to Wheatstone's exports.

Following China Evergrande Group's EGRNF inability to repay investors, Chinese authorities have taken certain employees from the company's wealth management division into custody.
This marks the initiation of the first criminal investigation against the beleaguered property developer since a colossal debt crisis struck it in late 2021.
The detentions of its official indicate a potential new investigation that could further compound the company's existing problems.

The FDA has reportedly issued a report detailing quality control lapses at Novo Nordisk A/S's NVO Clayton, North Carolina plant. Clayton is a major site for the company's production of its active pharmaceutical ingredients, including semaglutide, which is used in its hugely popular weight-loss drug Wegovy and type 2 diabetes drug Ozempic.
Novo Nordisk has hired U.S. private contract manufacturer PCI Pharma Services to handle the assembly and packaging of Wegovy as it races to boost output of the weight-loss drug to meet demand.

Financial Times

Following the booming stock market debut of SoftBank Group Corp's SFTBF SFTBY Arm Holding Plc ARM, the Japanese multinational conglomerate is exploring the possibility of investing in OpenAI.
According to sources, SoftBank is also contemplating substantial investments in direct competitors of OpenAI.
SoftBank has already begun collaborating with OpenAI in the Japanese market, allowing local companies to develop intelligent chatbots.

Bloomberg

Alibaba Plans $2B Investment In Turkey

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd BABA reportedly plans a $2 billion investment in Turkey after a meeting between the Chief Executive Officer, Michael Evans, and Turkey President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
The company has already invested about $1.4 billion in Turkey through its e-commerce marketplace, Trendyol.
He added that Alibaba has a lot of confidence that Turkey can become one of the leading e-export countries.

Single Bitcoin In 2021 Was Enough To Purchase A Tesla Model Y, Softbank Explores Investing In OpenAI, Ford Faces UAW Strike In US, Canada: Today's Top Stories